Monthly Archives: March 2015

Woon is the home moon of the bomoth, a species resembling giant caterpillars and renowned as musicians. A popular theory (likely suggested by their appearance) is that bomoth are a larval form of some other organism. Visitors to the underground mushroom forests of their home moon occasionally report sightings of butterfly-winged creatures resembling human females flitting through the twilight. Such sightings are dismissed as the result of exposure to the psychoactive fungi spores in the atmosphere (SS, pg 15). Here’s Trey’s post on the bomoth.

Large: Bomoth are larger than most species. Increase the bomoth’s toughness by 1.

Carapace: The carapace of the bomoth is not hard like a crustacean or spider, but still provides some protection. Increase their Toughness by 1.

Sticky Hands: The bomoth are able to climb porous surfaces with ease. Treat them as if they have the wall walker spell active at all times (SWDX, pg 118).

Musical Talent: All bomoth are renowned for their musical aptitude. A bomoth begins with the Musical Instrument (specific) (Agility) skill at a d6.

Mimic: Bomoth are able to mimic almost any sound or voice. A target being tricked by this must succeed a Smarts roll -2 to realize they are being tricked.

Slow: Due to their massive bulk, bomoths are extremely slow. Their pace is a 3 and they only roll a d4 when running.

Bad Eyes: Even though the bomoth have multiple eyes, their eyesight isn’t the greatest. They have the Bad Eyes (minor) hindrance (SWDX, pg 28).

Slow to Act: Maybe due to their lackadaisical attitude, or due to the psychotropic mushrooms that the bomoth are often consuming, they are slow to jump into the fray (any fray). No matter the situation, the bomoth will not act in the first round, instead standing and pondering, observing, tinkering, or even eating.

The Smaragdines are the visionaries of the Alliance, known for their psi abilities. All citizens are required to have at least rudimentary skills because the crystalline megapolis of Smaragdoz is ruled by a group-mind Consensus: The captured thoughts and desires of the citizens form an entity of pure thought that makes laws by decree. All Smaragdine children are tested for psi abilities, and the most promising are sent to one of a number of academies (SS, pg 11). Here’s a post by Trey on the Smaragdines.

Consensus: The great group-mind bestows base knowledge to all Smaragdines. A player chooses two skills to start at a d4 for free at character generation.

Psionic: Nearly all Smaragdines have some psi capability. Start with the Arcane Background: Psionics (SWDX, pg 104) with 10 power points and 3 powers.

Isolated: Smaragdines are shocked when they leave their homeworld and not connected to the group-mind, missing the constant whispers that trail through their mind. They suffer -1 to all Spirit rolls when not on their planet.

Alone: Being part of the group-mind is an intense and wonderful shared experience. When not on their planet they have the Outsider (minor) hindrance (SWDX, pg 30).

“The Alliance’s greatest warriors are the thrax. A clone race created for conquest by a long-forgotten culture, they still structure their society along martial lines (SS, pg 10).” Here is a post by Trey about the Thrax.

Brute: Thrax have been engineered to be strong. They begin play with a d8 in Strength instead of a d4.

Monomolecular Blade: The most important possession to a thrax is their monomolecular blade, which is a symbol of their stature amongst their own kind. This massive two-handed weapon does str+d10 damage. Each weapon has a battery pack in the hilt, that when activated causes the blade to become monomolecular (though an advanced electrical field). When the blade has been transformed into a monomolecular blade, it deals an additional 4 damage and has 5AP. Treat the blade as a weird science gizmo. The blade has 10 power points and utilizes the Smite spell (SWDX, pg 116). Activating the blade consumes 2 power points and lasts for one round. An additional power point is consumed each round thereafter. Expend more PP for longer duration. Recharge is 1 PP per hour (SWDX, pg 102).

Skilled Fighters: Thrax are trained to fight and begin with a d4 in Fighting.

Glory and Honor: Thrax believe in honor and it has been instilled in their culture since its creation. Thrax all have the Code of Honor hindrance (SWDX, pg 28).

Bull-headed: Thrax are stubborn creatures. They have the Stubborn hindrance (SWDX, pg 31).

Cloned Being: Many cultures are not comfortable with what the Thrax represent. When not among their own kind a thrax suffers from the Outsider hindrance (SWDX, pg 30). Should a thrax ever lose their monomolecular blade they are treated as an outsider amongst their own kind as well.

I am gearing up to run some Strange Stars (written by the sexy Trey Causey) with a small group of players in the near future (my GM burnout is starting to wane). I am looking forward to running this as a change of pace that my group and I normally go through- which is A) taking a break from fantasy; B) and going with a more pulp/action feel VS the gritty deadliness I was doing in our 5e campaign, or the ultra high 0ctane meat grinder that is Hubris.

My Strange Stars game will be heavily inspired by Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek, Star Wars, and pulp action (1940’s two-fisted style). To accomplish this I’ll be using Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition and the Sci-Fi companion.

Anyways- I’m going to start throwing up some of the Strange Stars races with Savage Worlds rules (hopefully Trey will approve- if not, I’m sure there’s a help group out there that will help him cope with the disappointment of my choices).

Humans

Humans are prevalent throughout the known universe, almost like a galactic cockroach. Humans are tenacious and somehow always able to get themselves out of trouble. Humans start with an additional edge and the Luck edge.

Djägga

“The vaguely feline humanoid djägga are hunters by nature and instinct, and many choose to hunt other sophonts as bounty hunters or assassins. Djägga tend to be solitary and are often mistrustful of others, but they’re loyal. They are also keen to avenge any perceived betrayal. Competitions can trigger their predator instincts, so it’s prudent to avoid games with djägga, particularly ones involving a physical component (SS, pg 8).” Here’s an old post by Trey about the Djägga.

Agile: The feline grace of the djägga grant them d6 in Agility rather than d4.